Over the past few years, the use of mobile communications devices has greatly increased. More and more individuals own and use mobile communications devices, such as mobile telephones, as part of their daily routine, to keep in contact with others throughout the day. These devices have greatly increased the ability for individuals to move from location to location while still being able to conduct business or tend to personal matters.
However, the use of mobile telephones while moving from location to location has also greatly increased the use of these devices while driving. Instead of using the mobile telephone only in emergency situations, many individuals use their telephones while driving a motor vehicle, such as a car or truck. To do so, these drivers will sometimes take their eyes off of the road or waterway to look at their telephone to dial the desired number. Additionally, while dialing and/or talking, the driver will sometimes take one hand from the wheel of the vehicle to push the buttons and/or hold the mobile telephone while talking to the other party. As such, the driver is less likely to be able to react quickly to an emergency situation while driving and is a much greater risk to the surrounding drivers since their attention is diverted from the road while dialing and/or talking on the telephone.
As a result, many states and countries are beginning to enact legislation restricting and even prohibiting the use of mobile telephones while operating a motor vehicle. These laws are designed to ensure that a driver's attention is not distracted while dialing/operating a mobile telephone and to ensure that drivers keep their hands on the wheel of the vehicle to enable the driver to react more quickly in emergency situations.
Various systems have attempted to reduce the need for a driver to remove the driver's hand to use a mobile telephone and/or to reduce the amount of time a driver's eyes are not on the road ahead. These conventional systems are also in response to the aforementioned legislation.
One alternative is the use of an earphone when talking on the mobile telephone such that the driver may freely talk without holding the mobile telephone. However, the driver must still remove the driver's vision from the road and at least one hand from the wheel when dialing the telephone. Additionally, many states have legislation prohibiting the use of earphones while driving as they severely limit a driver's ability to hear, which is necessary especially to hear the approach of emergency vehicles.
Another alternative that removes some of the problems associated with an earphone is the use of a cradle for holding the telephone, with all vocal communication occurring through a speakerphone. While this system does eliminate the earphone, the telephone must still be dialed manually such that the driver's vision is distracted while dialing, and at least one hand must be removed from the wheel of the vehicle to dial the telephone. Some systems include microphones, but dialing must still be done by hand.
Some car manufacturers have attempted to provide solutions by providing a system having an internal mobile telephone. As such, the phone and its components are installed in the vehicle and may only be used while in the vehicle. The system also provides one or two buttons on the steering wheel that permit the driver to dial one or two programmed numbers that have been input into a memory system. The mobile telephone uses a speakerphone to permit the driver to speak without having to hold the telephone. However, these systems do not use an existing mobile telephone, such as the driver's cellular telephone or satellite telephone; these systems are limited in the number of telephone numbers that may be stored; and these systems are expensive and not available to all drivers.
Other car manufacturers have solved some of the problems by providing a mobile telephone system that also uses an internal mobile telephone, but permits an individual to input multiple numbers into a memory system. The mobile telephone system also provides one or two buttons on the steering wheel and is connected to the car's navigation system. A driver presses one button to scroll through the names and/or numbers that are displayed on the car's navigation system screen. Once the desired number is located, another button may be pressed to place the call. However, these systems also do not use an existing mobile telephone, are expensive, and require the driver to look at a screen to determine what number is to be called, thereby diverting the driver's attention from the road.
What is needed, therefore, is a device that enables an operator of a motor vehicle to use the user's mobile telephone without having to remove either hand from the steering wheel of the vehicle and/or without having the user remove the user's eyes from the road or waterway while operating the vehicle.